Business | Markets
UAE stocks slide for second day as global fears grow
The UAE stock markets continued their fall on Monday for the second consecutive day as bearish global financial markets cast their spell on the domestic bourses.
- By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:41 March 18, 2008
Abu Dhabi: The UAE stock markets continued their fall on Monday for the second consecutive day as bearish global financial markets cast their spell on the domestic bourses.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM) general index fell 1.72 per cent to 4,601.51, while the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index closed at 5,581.93, 1.65 per cent weaker from its previous close.
As a result, the Emirates Securities general index fell 1.65 per cent on Monday to 5,835.31 from 5,932.96, its previous close.
Markets worldwide experienced extreme volatility last week as oil prices raced to $111 a barrel, amid weakening of the dollar against major global currencies, mainly the euro and yen.
Traders are reluctant to take positions as it's almost certain that the US economy is headed toward recession, which will slow down consumer spending and stifle economic growth worldwide.
Market analysts, say the fundamentals of the UAE economy are strong and the domestic bourses will bounce back into positive territory soon on the back of anticipated strong first quarter results of major market moving companies. They say the markets are likely to rebound as companies come closer to declaring their first quarter results.
The fall on the ADSM was led by the real estate sub-index that fell 3.90 per cent, while the energy sub-index declined 3.39 per cent. Shares valued at more than Dh585.90 million were traded during the day on the market, with the volume of shares traded exceeding 93.50 million.
Aldar Properties was the most actively traded stock, while National Corp for Tourism and Hotels was the main gainer with its shares closing 9.93 per cent higher at Dh9.30. Invest Bank was the main loser. Its shares declined 9.04 per cent to Dh3.32 at close.
On the DFM, more than 241.24 million shares valued in excess of Dh1.23 billion changed hands. AirArabia's stock was the most actively traded by volume, while NGI was the day's main gainer. NGI's shares rose five per cent to close at Dh6.93.
The day's main loser was Arig, whose shares declined 13.84 per cent to Dh3.30 at close.
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